Scientists working from within a brand-new research centre at Keele University have secured major funding for three new studies, worth over three-quarters of a million pounds, combined.

Keele’s new Centre for Glycoscience Research and Training was established earlier this year to promote and facilitate research in glycoscience – the study of complex sugars - across the University’s Faculties of Natural Science, and Medicine and Health Science.

Professor Gavin Miller from the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences; and Professor Jerry Turnbull and Dr Thomas Torode from the School of Life Sciences, have each secured grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council – a branch of UK Research and Innovation, for research aligned to the centre’s work.

Their research will include studying potential new treatments for arthritis; ways of making plants more resilient to improve food security; and ways of improving stem cell production for use in medicine.

Professor Miller said: “This EPSRC-NH is an exciting and collaborative project to develop next generation bioresponsive biopolymers. This is hugely important in the quest to discover and develop new treatments for arthritis.”

Professor Turnbull said: “This new EPSRC grant support Is a great opportunity for an interdisciplinary research collaboration in the new Centre. We aim to develop biomaterials enhanced with complex sugars as novel scaffolds to grow stem cells for biomedical applications.”

Dr Torode added: “This project takes an ambitious approach towards modern agricultural practices that required no freshwater consumption or arable land use. This has the potential to revolutionise food production and provide green biotechnology economic boosts to coastal cities. This is possible due to the flexibility of the EPSRC New Horizons scheme.”